A three-drug antiretroviral therapy essentially eliminates HIV transmission from mother to infant via breastfeeding, according to new results from large clinical trial held in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
The results are a part of the ongoing Promoting Maternal and Infant Survival Everywhere study, which is backed by the National Institutes of Health. The study enrolled 2,431 pairs of HIV-infected mothers and their uninfected infants. Researchers found that the three-drug maternal antiretroviral therapy delivered in tandem with daily doses of nevirapine to the infant safely barred HIV transmission during breastfeeding with a high success rate. The rate of perinatal transmission was 0.3 percent at six months and 0.6 percent at 1 year of age. Historically, the rates of transmission without medication therapy have ranged from 15 to 45 percent.
The infant mortality rate in the study was extremely low. Nearly 99 percent of all babies survived their first year of life.
"These findings add to the considerable body of evidence confirming the benefits of antiretroviral therapy for every person living with HIV," said Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Maternal antiretroviral therapy safely minimizes the threat of HIV transmission through breast milk while preserving the health advantages of breastfeeding, as the high infant survival in this study underscores."
More articles on infection control:
Whitewater Center where teen contracted brain-eating amoeba infection admits sanitation problems
Algorithm predicts effective treatments for drug-resistant fungal infections
3 predictors of C. diff-related mortality in older adults